Pokemon Divine Legacy Book 3: Interception and Extraction
by Maximus Prime 802
Summary: A tale of tragedy and woe, as their quest to find the Palace of Light continues, Red must face a ghost from his past once again. And Ash learns that no victory can come without a sacrifice
1. The Plan

**May's Log entry 1:**

_Shortly after Dawn discovered she was the last Guardian Priestess, our mission to find the Palace of Light and begin the final battle between Arceus and Giratina had begun. But Giratina was aware of our plan and sent his army of Antimon after us under the command of an evil Pokémon named Darkrai. We have already uncovered two of the riddles that will lead us to the palace, unfortunately, the second riddle told us to find the Azure Flute, which is currently locked in Team Rocket's base. But Red says he has a plan to sneak in and out undetected. I just hope we know what we're doing._

May stopped recording in her journal and looked around her. As she stared out from her seat on a green topless jeep that Red was driving, she couldn't help but think back on the ground breaking events that unfolded on their quest to awaken the Alpha Pokémon.

Just a few days ago, she and her friends were on the Metagross Mountain, confronted by Darkrai and his Antimon henchman. May remembered that day; she mostly remembered being poisoned by one of the undead beasts. The memory of coming so close to death made her shiver, were it not for Dawn's quick thinking, May would not have been with them at that moment. The thought of it made her shudder

Three days after that, the six Trainers and their Pokémon boarded the first boat departing for Kanto. after several hours at sea, the boat made port in Vermillion City where they would happen to meet with Professor Oak whom would lend them his jeep, the same jeep Red was driving at that moment, and let Red exchange his Lapras for another Pokémon he had in storage.

The Pokémon Master didn't tell the others what Pokémon he had, he just said that it was vital to their plan.

May ceased her reminiscing to look at her friends and the Pokémon with them. Misty had the middle seat in the back. Piplup was with Dawn who was on the right back seat. Ash was in the passenger seat up front, holding Pikachu. Brock was sitting in the open back trunk, this was because he got last place in Rock Paper Scissors.

Red did not say anything as he continued to drive across the rocky plain around Mount Moon, where Team Rocket's base was hidden. The terrain was uneven and bumpy which caused the other passengers to shake and nearly jump out of their seats. Despite being thrashed around in one place, Red did not seem fazed at all, and neither was his driving. The expression on his face was neither that of anger, nor fear. To Red this was simply a setback in their mission, one that he would rather not have to face.

Half an hour passed before Red stopped the jeep. The force of the breaks rocked everyone but Red forward and then back.

"What'd you do that for Red?" Ash asked angrily.

"We're here." Red explained as he pointed toward the top of a rock formation in front of them. at the top, was a glass building with a gigantic red R on the front of it.

"Call me crazy but I think that's Team Rocket's Headquarters." Dawn said sarcastically.

"What's your plan to get in Red?" Brock asked as he staggered to get out of the back of the jeep.

"I don't know, I'm making this up as I go." Red explained. Misty marched over to Red, glaring at him with great fury in her eyes.

"You mean you didn't have a plan before we got here!" Misty shouted at him.

"For someone whose specialty is Water Pokémon, you have quite the temper." Red commented, Brock quickly grabbed Misty before she could get her hands on him. Ash grabbed a pair of binoculars out of his green backpack and handed them to Red.

"These might help you out." He commented. Red looked around the top of the formation and saw the building was in a much more dilapidated state than when he last saw it and there were no guards around the front entrance.

"This'll be easier than I thought." Red commented to himself. Gathering his PokéBalls, Red began creeping towards the formation. Red looked behind and gestured for Dawn, and Dawn alone to follow him.

"The rest of you wait here for back up." Red instructed as he and the Priestess slowly approached the Rocket Headquarters. Using Chars and Aero, the two humans managed to scale the side of the formation and stood in front of Team Rocket Headquarters.

It was here that Red saw just the pathetic state that the building was in. It looked like it had been hit by a hurricane wooden boards were nailed onto the sides of the building and the R looked like it was about to fall off at any moment. To Red, it was clear that Team Rocket was in an economic crisis.

Here Red also saw that he was mistaken, as two Rocket Grunts stood outside the doors as guards. The Pokémon Master couldn't think of any way could get around the Grunts, there were no side doors or windows to get in. Then an idea came to him, if Red and Dawn could not get around them, then they'd go through them.

"Dawn, how good is Buneary's Ice Beam?" Red asked.


	2. Interception

Within minutes, Red and Dawn were inside Team Rocket's base. Red's plan worked like a charm, while Red got their attention with the shine from Pika's Iron Tail, Buneary used Ice Beam to freeze the two Grunt's heads. Once they were disabled Red and Dawn removed their uniforms and put them on themselves.

"These suits reek." Dawn commented.

Red said nothing to her as they continued down the halls. Down one of the halls, Red heard the sounds of people talking. The two trainers slowly walked down that hallway and found an auction hall filled with many people who appeared to be very wealthy based on their attire. At the end of the auction hall the auctioneer was standing at the stand in front of a series of tables with multiple valuable items on it. Among them was the Azure Flute.

"There it is." Dawn whispered to Red pointing at it. "This must be Team Rocket's desperate attempt at making money, by selling their goods."

"I'll take care of the flute," Red whispered back handing her a PokéBall. "You get outside the base and release him."

Her commands given, Dawn took off down the hall quickly, leaving Red to deal with the Azure Flute. She knew better than to question his plans or his motifs. Even as Red spoke, the Auctioneer gestured to the Azure Flute.

"This flute is carved from azurite stone and is said to be over a thousand years old." The auctioneer explained, "Let's start the bidding at $500,000."

One person spoke out, "One million."

Another stood up and bid even higher, "Two million."

"Two million going once, going twice." The auctioneer began, Red had no other choices.

"Five million!" Red shouted.

"Ten million!" an elder man shouted, Red continued the bid.

"Fifteen million!" The old man was quick to match it.

"Twenty million!" Red had to act quickly if he choked now then the Flute of the Gods would be lost.

"Fifty five million, and that's my final offer." The crowd fell silent. To them the idea of fifty five million was a bold move.

"Fifty five million going once, going twice." The auctioneer called. Red looked around, the old man looked at Red with great contempt but was preparing to best his bid.

"Dawn where are you." Red thought to himself. His answer came to him as an Aerodactyl came charging through the window roaring and clawing into the air.

Stricken by fear, the wealthy men and women and the auctioneer ran through the halls screaming as loud as they could. Seeing his opportunity, Red ran past the terrified people straight for the stage. The Pokémon Master jumped aboard the stage and grabbed the Azure Flute. The Aerodactyl saw Red running and knew his mission was complete. The large primordial Pokémon spun around, gently grabbing his master in his claws and flying out the window.

Aero (Red's Aerodactyl) delicately placed Red on the ground before returning to his PokéBall. Red looked up to see Dawn, returned to her original attire, standing at the edge of the formation that the building was on and holding Aero's PokéBall.

"You got the Azure Flute?" Dawn asked. Red simply held the flute out for her to take. Dawn took the flute from his hand while placing Aero's PokéBall in his other hand.

"We don't have much time, they'll figure out it was a set up." Red warned.

"Then let's get back to the jeep and take off." Dawn commented. the two Sinnoh born trainers began to climb down the side of the formation to reunite with their awaiting friends. Unaware they were being watched.

From the desktop computer in his office, Giovanni, feared leader of Team Rocket, watched the footage from a security camera of his old foe Red and his associate trainer run away with the Azure Flute. To see an old enemy take something from Team Rocket base would normally enrage him, but this time he was curious. Of all the things Red could've stolen from the base, why would he steal an old flute? Something was not right, he had to investigate what they were after and see how it might benefit Team Rocket.

At that moment, his three least favorite agents, Jessie, James and Meowth, entered the room. They had failed Giovanni more times than he could remember. Most of their blunders came from their futile plans to catch Ash Ketchum's Pikachu. Throughout their failed plans over the years they wound up wasting millions of dollars, they were a principal reason for Team Rocket's economic crisis. But despite their failures they were masters of disguise and were remarkably stealthy despite the imbecilic Wobuffet that Jessie had. All the reason why Giovanni summoned them.

"You wanted to see us, boss." Jessie asked enthusiastically.

"Yes, just a few minutes ago, Team Rocket public enemy one, Red, broke into our base and stole the Azure Flute." Giovanni explained.

"I see, and you want us to get it back for ya eh?" Meowth deduced confidently.

"No!" Giovanni protested assertively, "He has something planned with that flute, I want the three of you to follow him and his friend and find out what he's planning."

"What friend?" James asked his superior. Giovanni grabbed onto the flat screen of his computer and turned it around to reveal to them the other trainer with Red on a freeze frame shot. She was all too familiar to the Rocket trio.

"That's the blue haired twerp from years back!" Jessie identified.

"And when there's one twerp there's bound to be more." James assumed.

"Follow them, but do not engage." Giovanni ordered, "Once you have identified their plan, report back to me, understand?"

"Yes sir." The three said in unison, before departing their leader's office. Giovanni still was not sure that they could do this properly, he needed someone who would be sure to get the job done. Giovanni grabbed his phone and contacted his secretary, Matori.

"Giovanni sir, how may I be of service?" Matori asked.

"I need someone for this mission that I can be sure won't fail." Giovanni explained, "Patch me through to my son."


	3. Sophie

Red accelerated the jeep across the surface of the rocky terrain. Experience told him that it would not take long for Team Rocket to find out he was there and send an entire armada to hunt them down. But experience also told him that once they cleared Mt. Moon they would be safe, as Giovanni would call his forces back to prevent the location of their base from being uncovered by the authorities.

The shaking and rumbling of the jeep as it accelerated over the stone terrain, tossed the passengers around in one spot. The rumbling of the jeep nearly threw Piplup out of the car several times were it not for Pikachu's quick thinking.

"Red, slow down!" May called from the back seat, "I'm going to get sea sick!"

"We need to get off Mt. Moon before Team Rocket catches up to us." Red reasoned.

"That was smart thinking back there Red." Dawn complimented, referring to his strategy at Team Rocket Headquarters.

"I improvised, that always has a backlash." Red explained, holding up Aerodactyl's PokéBall, "Aerodactyl broke his wing while trying to land, as long as it's broken he can't battle."

"We'll stop at a Pokémon Center to get it looked at." Brock offered, thinking about the beautiful and glamorous Nurse Joy who would obviously be there.

"We don't have time," Red explained.

"So what's the plan now?" Ash asked.

"My sister will provide us with accommodations for the night." Red answered, "There, I can fix Aero's wing."

"Where's your sister?" Misty asked.

"She's in Cerulean City, she works in a hotel there." Red answered.

"That's my home town, I should go visit my sisters." Misty considered.

With the conversation ended, the six trainers fell silent. After a few minutes, the rocky terrain was replaced by a dirt road. They had cleared Mt. Moon, safe for now from Team Rocket. Ash knew that while they were safe from Team Rocket, they were still prey for Darkrai. The Pitch Black Pokémon would not rest until he had the Guardian Priestess, and brought her before his master, Giratina.

Their fearful thoughts of doom were interrupted by the jeep's sudden stop. Ash looked up to see that Red had stopped the vehicle right in front of The Marina, a highly pristine hotel, one of the most luxurious in the world.

"Is this the hotel your sister works at Red?" May asked excitedly.

"My sister doesn't work here" Red explained, "She owns it."

May and Misty became ecstatic. After all the terrors they had recently endured, what they needed now was some relaxation. Seeing as Red is related to the owner then the odds were high that she would give Red and his friends the best suite in the hotel.

"Don't get too excited girls" Red warned, "chances are she'll give us a janitor's closet."

The six Trainers and their Pokémon comrades departed the jeep and entered the hotel. Everyone looked around to admire the architecture of the building. Everything was made from marble stone and there were pillars that had blue oceanic decal as though waves were crashing over them. Off to the far right there was a large fish tank containing many spectacular ocean based Pokémon. Misty could not resist running over to see the Pokémon in the tank and admiring them.

"Wow, I've never seen so many cute water based Pokémon!" Misty exclaimed while gazing into the tank.

"Well, this hasn't changed about you at all little sis." a familiar female voice called to her. Misty looked over to see her older sister Violet standing not that far from her.

"Violet? What're you doing here?" Misty asked.

"I came here to inspect that the Pokémon were being treated fairly." Violet explained, "It's one of my jobs as the Cerulean City Gym Leader. What're you doing here?"

"I've been travelling a lot with Ash, and we need a break." Misty explained, opting not to have to explain their quest to find the Palace of Light to her sister.

"Ooh, booking a stay at the most fancy hotel in the Kanto Region with Ash, planning something?" Violet teased. Misty blushed at her sister's words.

"It's not just Ash and I!" Misty shouted angrily.

"Oh Misty! I didn't take you for that kind of girl." Violet continued grinning.

"No! I'm not doing anything like that!" Misty yelled.

"So something is going to happen." Violet taunted. Misty's entire face turned red with humiliation and rage. She couldn't think of anything to say, all she could do was just stutter.

"It's like your mouth is falling down the stairs." Violet commented on her gibberish.

Red, Ash and the others approached the front desk. The man on the opposite side seemed somewhat up tight based on his appearance.

"I'd like to speak with Sophie Red." Red asked the man.

"Certainly sir." He responded taking a phone on the desk, dialing a number into it and speaking into it.

"Ms. Sophie Red, you are needed at the front desk." The man's voice could be heard loud, over the PA system.

"You don't have to blare my name all over the building, I'm right here!" A young woman's voice shouted. The five trainers looked at the far side of the desk, on their side, and saw a beautiful young woman standing there. Her hair was a shining black with pink streaks in it. Her eyes were a vibrant green, like her mother's and her skin was soft and fare.

"This is my sister Sophie." Red greeted to the others.

"Red, what're you doing here?" Sophie asked jokingly, "Come to battle everyone in it, again."

"I don't need fights from petty trainers." Red commented coldly.

"Ooh, trouble in paradise?" Sophie teased, before looking behind her little brother at the trainers behind him, "Whose your entourage?"

"These are my friends; Ash, Dawn, May and…" Before Red could even introduce Brock, he was already hard at work doing that.

"And I am Brock, the Rock Hard Pokémon Breeder." Brock greeted, kneeling before Sophie holding her hand, "Though my Pokémon be that of stone, just know that my heart is not. It is a frail and delicate thing, something that only someone as gentle as you can hold."

"Gentle?" Dawn whispered to May, "Has he even met Sophie? She's as mean as a scorpion."

"And so Sophie, beautiful flawless Sophie, I offer to you my heart, if you'll take it." Brock continued. His romantic spiel was cut short by Croagunk's Poison Jab attack striking him in his back, paralyzing the 'Rock Hard' Pokémon Breeder.

"And now you know why my heart is so fragile." Brock croaked as Croagunk dragged him away.

"I bet that works on the ladies every time." Sophie commented.

"Sophie, we need a hotel room for six, for one night." Ash explained.

"Six, there's only five of you here" Sophie questioned, "Unless you're in that cult that's all about Pokémon are one of us."

"No" Dawn commented annoyed.

"The sixth person is the red head over there by the Pokémon fish tank." Dawn said grudgingly pointing to the tanks.

"Is she the one taking pictures of the Pokémon?" Sophie asked.

"No, the one strangling one of the Sensational Sisters." Ash corrected grudgingly. He was right, angered by her sister's taunting Misty began to throttle her older sister, and Violet was throttling her in return.

"What do you say Sophie?" Brock asked looking her in the eyes.

"I say go somewhere cheaper." Sophie answered.

"What? You're not going to give us a room?" Ash deduced unhappy.

"You catch on quickly smart guy." Sophie commented.

"Come on, why not?" Dawn asked desperately.

"For one thing, the last time I let Red and his friends have a room here, I had to explain why a Tyrannitar destroyed one of my suites, to the insurance company." Sophie reasoned, "And another thing, the only room I can give you is the penthouse, and I've booked that room."

"You guys put a Tyrannitar in your room?" Brock asked with a humorous tone. Red simply looked away from Brock blushing.

"That must've been some party." Ash commented smiling, Pikachu was smiling as well.

"I know" Sophie added, "I couldn't even hear the rest of the elevation on my insurance because I heard someone screaming. And then I realized, it was me."

"Wait a minute, why did you book the penthouse if you own the hotel?" May asked Sophie.

"Well it's my hotel, it would be a shame to not spend some time in it." Sophie explained.

"This is ridiculous Sophie." Red said angrily, "We need a hotel room and you're holding the only one we can use for yourself."

"Just like our childhood." Sophie said smiling. No one laughed or even smiled at her reference, they just stared at her angrily. Sophie knew that what she was doing was wrong. It was not fair for her to immerse herself in the only room for her brother and her friends when they clearly needed it. Besides the incident at Cinnabar Island matured him greatly. At the same time, she was not willing to be considered a push over to Red by just giving up.

"I'll tell you what Red, I'll give you the penthouse, totally paid for the night" Sophie began, "If you give me your Sandshrew."

Red said nothing, all his Pokémon meant a lot to him, but right now, they needed a place to stay. He also knew that Sandshrew would be taken care of, even though she would be keeping him.

"Well, do we have a deal?" Sophie asked, holding her hand out for her brother to shake. Without a second's thought, Red shook her hand.

"What're you doing? You can't just give him away." May warned.

"He's in good hands." Red commented. Sophie pulled the key to the penthouse out of her jacket pocket and handed it to Red.

"Enjoy your stay here at the Marina." Sophie said.


	4. The Mark

Dawn stood at the edge of the balcony of their Penthouse suite looking over Cerulean City. Staring out over the cityscape, the Guardian Priestess was lost in thought. Red told her that Arceus chose her because he saw something in her that not even she had seen. The reason for the separate riddles was for Dawn to find out what it was that Arceus saw. But how could she focus on that when Giratina was sending his undead soldiers of evil after her? His creation's constant attacks on her and her friends were impairing her soul searching. If this kept up then in her mind, she would not be able to awaken Arceus when they arrived at the Palace of Light.

"I thought I'd find you out here." Dawn looked behind her to see May standing in the doorway.

"Where are Red and Ash." Dawn asked her Hoenn born friend.

"They're down in the lobby trying to pull Misty off her sister." May explained.

"May can I tell you something?" Dawn asked, nervously.

"Of course Dawn, What's the trouble?" May asked. Dawn seemed hesitant to answer.

"Every night since the Metagross Mountain, I've had the same nightmare over and over again." Dawn began, "I'm somewhere where I feel the most serine and happy and then Giratina emerges, and destroys everything around me. What does it mean?"

"I'm not sure what is means either." May answered, "It must be something that Giratina's doing, to make you too afraid to unlock more of your powers, so you can't awaken Arceus. Don't let yourself be scared by them, nothing in them is real."

Dawn looked out across the city. As the sun began to set over it, it cast a magnificent shadow over the city in the shape of an elegant Lugia. Inspired by the majesty of the setting sun, Dawn took heed to May's advice.

"I guess you're right about that May, after all they're just nightmares, nothing's real about them." Dawn theorized, "I won't let them stop me from getting to the Palace of Light."

As Dawn stood there triumphantly, she was unaware that she was being watched from the rooftop across from them, by three pairs of eyes.

"The blue haired twerp can summon Arceus if they get to a Palace?" Meowth asked out loud.

"What's an Arceus?" James asked.

"I've heard of it" Jessie answered, "It's said to be the most powerful Pokémon of all time, and Giratina's his son with serious daddy issues."

"Two powerful Pokémon eh?" Meowth thought out loud, "That gives me an idea."

"Whenever you say that I end up using all the burn cream just on my hands." James whined.

"My plan is this." Meowth began, "Think about it, Team Rocket's going through an economic crisis right now. Da boss has been forced to sell his priceless Oakwood desk and replace it with a folding desk. 'Oh no what am I going to do, soon Team Rocket will have to close' he'll say and what to his wonder, two large packages arrive outside of Team Rocket HQ. 'What have we got here, it says on them to da Boss Love Meowth and friends' he'll say, and what could be in those boxes, none other than Arceus and Giratina. Now what do you think he'll have planned for them? why he'll host a fight club. People will pay a fortune to come and see two powerful Pokémon duke it out every night. Eventually Team Rocket will be back in action, da boss will even be able to get a new bigger Oakwood desk. He'll be so happy with us and he'll say 'Meowth and friends truly saved Team Rocket from going under, I ought to give them a promotion'".

"A promotion you say?" Jessie asked, her eyes gleaming with excitement.

"With a plan that fool proof it's bound to work." James commented, his eyes gleaming like Jessie's, "I should tell the boss about this."

Before James could even dial Team Rocket headquarters' number on his cell phone, both Jessie and Meowth tackled him.

"You can't tell the boss cabbage head!" Meowth shouted, "If the boss finds out about this he'll fire us for sure."

"Right, so we'll have to keep this on the up and up until we have both Arceus and Giratina." Jessie noted.

"We let those melon headed twerps lead us to the Palace and then we take both of them once they start slugging at one another." Meowth explained. With their plan in mind, the Team Rocket trio decided Giovanni must not know. Once they had the two most powerful Pokémon of them all, Team Rocket would return to glory, and they would be praised as heroes.

Back at the penthouse, Ash and Red walked back in carrying a sleeping Misty. Gently the two veteran trainers placed her on the nearest bed. Brock just stepped out of the bathroom fully dressed for the night.

"What happened to her?" Brock asked, not seeming very surprised by Misty's condition.

"It was hard for us to pull her away from her sister so Sophie had her Oddish use Sleep Powder to knock her out." Ash explained.

After explaining Misty's condition, Ash removed his navy blue vest and his black shirt, revealing a mark on his shoulder. The mark was that of a triangle, much like the symbol of the Creation Trio, but with a sword going through it.

"Ash, the mark on your shoulder" Dawn commented, "It looks like the one Red has on his shoulder."

"I do?" Ash asked, curious as to what it meant. Red removed his red vest and his black shirt revealing that he had the same mark on his shoulder.

"Logically, it's a coincidence." Red reasoned.

"Yeah, but the symbols look exactly the same." Ash invoked.

"Let's not worry about that now, one of us should keep watch." Red commented.

"We won't need to." May offered, "We're in a city, and Cerulean is always a very bright city so Darkrai can't sneak up on us."

"Just to be safe, all the doors should be locked." Brock noted.

After everyone was prepared to sleep, Red locked every window and door and closed all the blinds to make sure no one knew they were there. With no way of looking into the hotel room, Darkrai could never see them and never send any Antimon in after them.

The night began, many of the small Pokémon had taken up a spot on Snorlax's huge belly for sleeping. All the trainers had fallen to sleep except for Red. He was in the living room, putting a cast around Aero's injured wing. It seemed like just a little while ago that Blaine had revived him from fossilized remains. The powerful Prehistoric Pokémon was difficult for Red to control due to his primal nature. But after Aero nearly lost his life to disease, Red saved him and Aero was quick to listen to him.

Now that Aero's wing was broken, he was incapable of battling until it was healed. Unfortunately for Red, he had no way of communicating with Professor Oak, and therefore no way to replace Aero in his Pokémon team, so he would have to wait until they left the Marina.

Even still, Red was nervous about Aero's injury, it was a lot more severe than he thought it was once he got a better look at it. However, shortly after Red received his ancient Aerodactyl, he began researching everything paleontologists knew about this Pokémon and learned that fossil Pokémon were capable of recovering from certain injuries that would kill a Pokémon alive today.

Red decided that he had to stop thinking so negatively and look around himself at the friends he had now. The night was young and the Pokémon master decided it would be wise to return to his and Dawn's room.

As he entered the room, Red looked over from his bed to see Dawn, sound asleep on the bed next to his. She lay very still, only her chest moving a rhythmic up and down as she breathed in her sleep. Her arms were gently wrapped around her sleeping Piplup, holding him securely and safely, close to her heart. Red was proud to see her safe. Dawn's safety was the most important thing to Red. Before leaving Twinleaf Town, Red swore to her mother, Johanna, that he would guard her daughter with his life. As long as he knew that she was safe then he was content.

"I will do everything in my power, to protect you Dawn." Red whispered as he brushed his fingers through her soft silky hair. Knowing that she was safe, Red turned around and returned to his bed to sleep.


	5. The Nightmare

She didn't know how or why but Dawn found herself at the Pokémon Contest Hall in Hearthome City. The hall was packed with adoring Pokémon fans. Dawn looked down at herself to see that she was wearing her favorite dress, one that she had worn during many of her Contests. The cheering and applause of the audience filled the air; it was a sight she was very familiar with. In the front row, Ash, Pikachu, Red, Brock, Misty and May were watching her and they were cheering the loudest. Even Red was showing enthusiasm for seeing Dawn down in the arena. Dawn did not care how she got to this Contest, but she decided that it would be best if she just went along with it.

This was the second round of the Contest, meaning that it was time for a battle. Dawn had to pick wisely; she had to choose a Pokémon who was skilled in combat but would also put on a very dazzling show for the audience. Eventually she came to the conclusion to choose Pachirisu. Carefully she put a seal on its Poké Ball so that when Pachirisu was released, it would create a dazzling effect. The buzzer went off and Dawn knew that it meant that it was her turn to compete in the contest battle.

"Let's give it our best out there Pachirisu." Dawn said to her electric squirrel companion before calling it back to its Poké Ball and proceeding to the arena.

Dawn was excited for this, it was the closest to a Pokémon Battle she had in a very long time. What was most exciting to her was her curiosity about who she would be fighting, it could've been anybody, and it could've been Zoey or Kenny or even Nando. Across the arena, she could see her opponent stepping onto the field; it was somebody she had never met before. Her opponent was a girl, due to the fact that she was wearing a long sinister black dress as well as a cape, but Dawn could not tell who it was because she had the hood on her cape pulled over her face. The bell went off, and that was the signal to start the battle.

"Pachirisu come on out!" Dawn shouted as she opened its Poké Ball. An explosion of thunderbolts and hearts burst out of the ball before Pachirisu itself appeared blowing kisses to the audience. Pachirisu's appeal stirred up quite a rave among the audience cheering and applauding once again. Now it was Dawn's opponent's turn, and she was ready for it, or was she?

"I choose you, GIRATINA!" the mystery Coordinator shouted as she opened her Poké Ball. A burst of purple gas and red lightning emerged from the Poké Ball before heralding the dark lord of Pokémon. Although he was different from what Dawn had seen before from the scrolls in Celestic Town. Instead of having a snake like body, he had a more basal dragon body with six legs and two huge black wings on his back instead of six black tentacles.

Even though he was different in form, Dawn was still terrified to see him. He towered over her and Pachirisu, staring down at them with his red soulless eyes, eyes that Dawn had seen before in the Antimon. The Renegade Pokémon let loose a terrible combination of a shriek and a roar that shook the entire arena. What seemed most terrifying to Dawn was that the audience applauded the sight of this beast.

"Now Giratina, use Hyper Beam!" the Coordinator called out to her monster as she held her hand out towards him. There was a pause, Giratina did not use his Pokémon move, instead he just looked back and down at the mysterious person who commanded him. She then turned her hand towards the audience, more specifically; Dawn's friends.

"On them" She concluded.

Giratina hissed in agreement and spun around. The beast opened its mouth, an orange sphere of energy formed and he released it a beam of energy from its mouth that charged straight for the stands. The worst part was not the fact that the Coordinator was attacking the audience, but instead the fact that the trainers were not moving at all from their seats, they seemed to be completely oblivious of the coming attack.

"Guys get out of the stands! Run!" Dawn shouted at them as loud as she could, but her attempts were in vain.

The Hyper Beam scored a direct hit, striking Dawn's friends in the stands sparking a massive explosion that overwhelmed a vast majority of the stands. The audience seemed to be thrilled at the sight of such carnage and they proceeded to applaud the desolation that just befell their eyes. But the explosion kept going, expanding more and more outward as it began to engulf the entire stands. The massive blast of fire and debris was ear splitting and the shock wave had kicked up a great deal of dust that blinded Dawn. In just seconds afterwards, the explosion dissipated and the Pokémon Contest Hall fell silent.

As the dust settled, Dawn's vision returned to her and it was at that moment that she had seen the desolation that occurred. There was nothing around her except the shattered remains of a once glorious building in the Sinnoh Region's contest capital. It was painful for Dawn to see all this destruction, all that the audience was ignorant to as well. Her emotions were a mix of grief and anger. She was grieving all the lives that were lost, but at the same time she was overcome by anger. She was angry at the Coordinator for sending Giratina to attack the audience, she was mad at her friends for not running and she was mad at herself for not being able to save them. Overwhelmed by emotions, Dawn fell to her knees as Pachirisu ran up to comfort her. During this time she was completely unaware of the Coordinator standing before her or that Giratina was standing there as well.

"Now you see the truth." Giratina commented to her, "Now you see that humans are weak, ignorant fools."

"And Pokémon deserve the same fate for allowing themselves to be enslaved by humans." The Coordinator continued. Dawn looked up at them with a look of great contempt.

"I don't believe any of that." Dawn said to them. The Coordinator simply laughed at her remark, as did the titanic Pokémon standing behind her.

"Such heroic nonsense, your quest is of no purpose anymore Priestess." Giratina argued.

"There is no way you can win this fight, not unless you are willing to sacrifice your friends." The Coordinator finished.

Dawn refused to believe the condescending that the two were giving her. But she also had a suspicion that they were right. She already came close to losing May, how did she know that the next time she wouldn't be there to save another of her friends. Once again her anger overwhelmed her.

"Who are you?" Dawn shouted at the Coordinator with great passion and fury. Without a second's thought, the Coordinator pulled back her hood to reveal her face and much to Dawn's terror it was her. Dawn was looking straight into her own face.

The shadowy reflection of Dawn just began to laugh maniacally, joined by Giratina's sinister roar of triumph. Shortly after Giratina's roar, the skies turned black, the sun went out and fire began to rain down over them. The evil Dawn's maniacal laughter echoed through the air as more fire began to rain down. Before Dawn could even scream in terror she felt a burst of freezing cold water hit her in the face.

Dawn then found herself back in the penthouse, surrounded by her sleeping Pokémon. She looked down to see that she was in her pajamas and was lying in a queen size bed; Dawn then theorized that she had been dreaming.

She was still curious though as to whom it was that woke her up. Dawn theorized that it had to be a Water Type Pokémon as it was the sensation of freezing cold water that woke her up. At first she thought that it could've been Piplup, but when she looked down she saw that Piplup was asleep next to her in the bed. Dawn heard a Pokémon calling out to her and looked over to see May's Wartortle standing at the edge of her bed.

"You saw that I was having a nightmare?" Dawn asked her May's small Pokémon. Wartortle merely nodded in agreement.

"Well, what're you doing up this late at night?" Dawn asked once more. Wartortle just pointed up at Snorlax's massive belly, who was sleeping out in the living room. On top of its belly, Buneary, Skitty, Pachirisu and Ash's Oshawott were already sleeping up there. But Wartortle was pointing directly at Oshawott with an annoyed look on his face.

"Oshawott pushed you off?" Dawn asked Wartortle, the small Pokémon nodded in agreement.

"Well that's not very nice of him." Dawn commented, "I'll bet that you'll be able to sleep next to May I'm sure she won't mind." Wartortle looked over to the room May and Misty were sleeping in, there were no signs of movement, so it was safe to say both were asleep.

"Then in that case, thanks for waking me up." Dawn said to Wartortle. The small Pokémon then got down on all four of its limbs and ran over to May's room. Now that Dawn knew that what she had just seen was not real, she took assurance in knowing that her friends were safe and she drifted back to sleep.


	6. Hotel Brawl

Under the light of the midnight moon, Cerulean City fell silent. Not a single light was on in any buildings, merely the streetlights and the light of a full moon shone down upon the city of Water Type Pokémon. There was not a sound to be heard except for the mysterious calls of nocturnal Pokémon. Many small Pokémon took advantage of the low light and lack of human activity to scurry across the streets and through the alleyways. But of all the Pokémon, one clearly stood out from the others.

Hiding in an alleyway, Darkrai laid hidden in the Shadow Zone. The Guardian Priestess was here, now was his chance to send the Antimon to take her. Unfortunately, he knew that if he sent the Antimon after her, then it could draw attention from other more powerful Trainers, and the Antimon would be overwhelmed. He would have no trouble combating Deoxys, but Cresselia was another problem. If she truly was guiding the Priestess, then Darkrai's past with her impaired his ability to engage her in combat.

His mission for Giratina was more important though. Darkrai also knew that he might never get a chance like this again. Carefully, Darkrai levitated out of the Shadow Zone with his plan in mind. Darkrai grabbed two Chaos Balls orbiting around his body and activated them. Emerging from the PokéBalls were three Antimon; an Anti Ariados, an Anti Beedrill and an Anti Garchomp.

"Go, fulfill your dark purpose." Darkrai commanded.

The trio of Antimon departed the alleyway, following the Guardian Priestess' unique aura. The demonic creatures remained hidden, sticking to the shadows and in the alleys. Their hive mind linked to Giratina's gave the Renegade Pokémon complete control over his soldiers, but also gave them his ferocity and violence. Giratina was also capable of seeing the world through the eyes of his legion, enabling him to see firsthand the status of his master plan.

The Guardian Priestess' aura led the Antimon to the Marina hotel, more specifically, the top level. The Anti Garchomp and Anti Ariados began scaling the side of the building, while the Anti Beedrill took flight. To place herself in such an exposed area was a very foolish move to the Antimon. Taking her would be far easier than Darkrai first assumed.

A few minutes of scaling and flying, and the Antimon reached the penthouse balcony. The door in was locked, but this was of no problem to the Anti Garchomp. The servant of evil used one of the fins on its long arms and slid it gently through the two doors. One swipe from the razor edges of the fin and the lock was broken. Gently the Anti Garchomp pushed the door open and entered followed by the other two Antimon.

The three demons commenced a search around the large suite. The trio crept past the sleeping humans and Pokémon, doing their best to hold back the urge to hunt. If they began to attack one then they would end up waking all their enemies. Besides, they were under orders not to engage the human scum unless it was necessary.

The Anti Ariados hissed at the other two, notifying them of its location. The Anti Beedrill and Garchomp approached the doorway the fake Ariados was standing in. The beastly insect gestured towards a bed on the left side of the room where the Guardian Priestess slept peacefully. Moving cautiously, the arachnid Antimon crawled towards the bed the Priestess was sleeping upon. Carefully, as not to wake the slumbering princess of the divine, the Antimon, scaled the side of the bed and crawled up over her. The Anti Garchomp walked over to the side of the bed and pulled the blanket off the Priestess while the Anti Ariados began spinning webs around her. Slowly, the Anti Ariados began cocooning young girl and the Piplup she held securely in her arms. In just a few minutes, the Priestess would be completely encased and helpless, perfect to return to the Distortion World.

As the Anti Ariados began spinning webbing around the Priestess, the Anti Beedrill kept watch in the doorway, unaware it was being watched. At the sound of a young girl shivering, it looked behind itself to see the red haired girl known as Misty standing behind it. Something was wrong, Misty was not attacking, instead she seemed to be paralyzed, she was standing there, frozen, her eyes huge and filled with fear. It was at that moment that the Anti Beedrill realized, she was afraid of it. After several seconds of being frozen in terror, Misty finally summoned enough courage to react to what was in front of her.

"BUG!" Misty shouted as loud as she could. Her scream of terror echoed across the penthouse, waking everyone, much to their dismay.

"I'm going to kill her." Red grumbled as he sat up in his bed. He opened his eyes to see The three Antimon in the same room as him, which shocked him into full consciousness. The Anti Garchomp made the first move, charging at Red. the Pokémon Master grabbed a PokéBall and fought back.

"Chars, use Dragon Claw!" Red shouted as he opened the PokéBall.

Chars emerged from it and attacked the Anti Garchomp. The fire dragon held out his hands, which became surrounded with blue energy in the form of claws, and slashed at the Antimon. The Anti Garchomp was sent tumbling back over the bed. As the creature went over the bed, Red saw that a Anti Ariados had near fully cocooned Dawn, only her head remained exposed.

"Squirtle use Hydro Pump!" Red shouted.

Squirtle had just awakened in time to do as his Trainer said. The Water Pokémon spewed a powerful stream of water from its mouth that struck the Ariados and sent it flying.

A Hydro Pump attack, even from a Pokémon as small as Squirtle, has enough force to turn a great oak tree into splinters. The Anti Ariados did not seem to have been damaged at all, simply stunned.

Ash, May and Brock had awoken and saw that the Antimon were attacking. Each one of them grabbed two PokéBalls, ran past a terror stricken Misty and attacked.

"Corpfish use Crab Hammer!" Ash shouted.

"Forretress, use Rapid Spin!" Brock exclaimed.

"Munchlax use Solar Beam!" May commanded.

The real Pokémon battled the Antimon viciously. Seeing a chance, Red ran up to Dawn's bed while the Anti Ariados was in combat with Corpfish. Using Oshawott's shell that it dropped in the heat of battle, Red sliced through the webbing around the young Priestess freeing her and Piplup. Gently Red put his arm around her shoulder and brought her up to his shoulder level, as she stirred back to consciousness.

"Have I ever told you how much I hate Ariados?" Dawn asked, humorously.

The trainers put up a strong fight against the Antimon. Although they were outnumbered, Giratina's soldiers proved to be quite a strong match against the real Pokémon. But Red could see that their Pokémon were losing strength quickly, while the Antimon seemed un phased, this had to end here and now.

"Pika! Snorlax! Use Thunder Impact!" Red commanded his two Pokémon. Snorlax bounced into the air, once he reached his peak height, Pika fired a Thunder attack at Snorlax. Although the electricity was strong, Snorlax's thick layer of fat insulated him from the electricity. Instead, the electricity seemed to dance around Snorlax's body, turning the Pokémon into a giant electrified ball.

"Everyone take cover!" Red warned the Trainers and Pokémon around him. They did as he said, ducking behind the furniture laid out around them.

Snorlax then charged in mid air, straight towards where he jumped up. The Pokémon struck the ground with enough force that the electricity around him was blasted outward in every direction. The electric blast struck the Anti Ariados and Anti Beedrill, shocking them with thousands of volts of electricity. The electric shock gained even more strength through the kinetic movements of Snorlax leaping into the air and charging back down to the ground. The blast was too intense for the two Antimon and they liquefied.

Once the sounds of fierce dances of electricity, coupled with the shrieks of pain from the Antimon stopped, the trainers and their Pokémon looked up from behind the furniture. At that moment, the Anti Garchomp lunged out from behind the flat screen television set, knocking it over with its tail as it charged straight towards the exhausted Snorlax, claws primed for the kill. As it got closer, Dawn could see that it was very close to the balcony window.

"My turn!" Dawn decided ,"Quilava, Piplup, create a fog!"

Quilava jumped forward ready to defend the defenseless Snorlax. Piplup jumped out beside Quilava and launched his Hydro Pump attack at the same time that Quilava fired its Flamethrower. The fire and water collided and created a haze of steam around the Anti Garchomp. With its vision blocked off, the Antimon couldn't see where it was going and was forced to stop its mid leap.

"Now Buneary! use Dizzy Punch and give it all you've got!" Dawn commanded as Buneary stood next to her. the little Pokémon jumped at the Antimon, continually, she thrust her ears forward, delivering powerful punches to the mindless killer. The impact from the Dizzying punches, pushed the Antimon further off its course, until Buneary thrust both her ears forward, hitting the Antimon and sending it over the balcony.

Upon hitting the ground, The Anti Garchomp slowly got back to its feet, although one leg lost a lot of essence in the fall, and it became crippled. With such an injury, the Antimon knew that it would be suicide to challenge the might of the Priestess again. With no other options it was forced to retreat.

"You guys were awesome" Ash complimented to both Dawn and Red, for combining their Pokémon's attacks.

In that moment, Dawn's mind travelled somewhere else, she began to have a vision. But not like other where one could see the future, instead she found herself in a black space, the only other being in that endless void was Cresselia.

"Cresselia, what am I doing here?"

"Dawn, I have summoned you here because I have a question for Ash and Red." Cresselia explained the question and Dawn asked it to Red and Ash, and what it meant, "I will send your mind back to your body, if my they answer the question correctly, then explain to them what the mark on their shoulders means."

Before Dawn could ask any more questions, she found herself returning to the shattered penthouse suite, surrounded by her friends, who were trying to repair the damage, they caused, but to no avail. As soon as Dawn recovered from her daze, she walked over to Ash and Red, who were trying to glue the floor around Snorlax back together, and asked the question Cresselia had for them.

"What you guys would say if I said I was a stranger travelling from the north seeking that which is lost?" Dawn explained. Both Ash and Red looked at her curiously. Both of them had heard the answer to this before from Professor Oak.

"Then I would say I'm a stranger travelling from the south…" Ash began.

"It is I whom you seek." Red finished.

"How did you know about that?" Ash asked Dawn.

"I was visited by Cresselia and she says that the symbol means you guys are Sacred Knights, an elite force that used to protect the Guardian Priestess' before the Platinum Wars." Dawn translated.

"What?" Ash asked in shock, he seemed honored to be part of a great defense force. "That can't be, I didn't get this mark until I was ten, when I got stuck in a blizzard."

"No, I got this mark when Leaf and I were trying to catch an Entei." Red denied.

"The Sacred Knights symbol only appears when a knight is in touch with their Pokémon the most." Dawn explained, "While Guardian Priestess' are in tune with the universe, a Sacred Knight is in tune with Pokémon, which is why you guys are such great Pokémon Trainers."

"We're great trainers because we understand Pokémon better, we know they're living beings that need compassion." Ash explained.

"You know what they need because you're in tune with them."

"We'll get more into this later." Red stated, "the Antimon know we're here and they'll be back."

"Then change in plans, we go to Vermillion City tonight." Misty explained.


	7. The Distortion World

The night was still holding strong by the time the Anti Garchomp had returned to Darkrai. The Pitch Black Pokémon had taken refuge in an abandoned warehouse; at least it was abandoned after he stormed it just several hours ago. The humans were smart to take their Pokémon and leave once Darkrai used the Antimon to assert his dominance.

The injured fake Pokémon limped through the massive doorway with a look of discontent in its red soulless eyes. Slowly it advanced towards Darkrai, head held low as a sign of submission. Darkrai had his back turned to the demonic beast, he was facing a portal to the Distortion World, but he knew well enough to know it was there.

"You are injured" the shadowy Pokémon commented, "You found her."

The Anti Garchomp began to hiss and chirp at Darkrai, which he was quick to translate in his mind and answer.

"So why is she not being brought before me?" Darkrai asked. The creature instantly became terrified and began trying to justify itself to him.

"You dare to return without the daughter of the gods herself, when she was right in front of you?" Darkrai was furious with his servant, despite no sign of rage in his face or tone; if this creature failed then in Giratina's eyes then Darkrai has failed as well.

"Return." Darkrai commanded as he held out a Chaos Ball and called the creature back to it. Darkrai turned around and hovered through the portal and returned to the Distortion World.

This place always revolted Darkrai. This world was an empty dark blue void with landmasses that floated in mid space. There was a presence of antimatter in the air which prevented anything from truly living in this forgotten place. The plants that grew here seemed to be alive but they were dead, and had stayed that way since the end of the Platinum Wars that ravaged this world.

While this world was known as the Reverse World, it was tasked with healing imbalances in the Pokémon World, and Giratina was tasked by Arceus with protecting this world. The battles of the wars were great and this world struggled to heal the imbalances, Giratina's exile was what brought an end to the Reverse World. It was a battle where Time and Space dueled with Antimatter in a ferocious all out attack. Finally, after fifty years of desperation, the Reverse World could not handle the stresses that the Creation Trio's fight was putting on it and it began to unravel. Time and Space were altered in a process called Distortoformification, life that used to flourish in this world died and it's connection to the Pokémon World was severed, turning this place into the Distortion World, from a place of healing to a land of the dead.

Darkrai found Giratina, levitating in the caverns where the essence of evil was, as was the ancient hieroglyphics. The Renegade Pokémon stared down at Darkrai as he approached him slowly.

"You summoned me." Darkrai said, "What troubles you?"

"You have been greatly unsuccessful in your attempts to bring me the Guardian Priestess." Giratina began.

"Master, I can explain, the Antimon were unprepared." Darkrai pleaded.

"Silence!" Giratina shouted before continuing, "The fault is not yours, the fault is mine. I assumed you were a decent military commander when you have proven otherwise."

Darkrai didn't know whether to be insulted or relieved. On one hand Giratina blamed himself for the Antimon's failures, but on the other hand he called he called Darkrai a poor leader.

"Now I see that what must be done. If I am to find the Guardian Priestess and reshape the world in my image, I must not send a hunter to find her, I must send an army." Giratina explained.

Giratina turned to Darkrai and continued to speak, "You are to go to the mountains high in Unova to find the Full Court."

Darkrai knew who Giratina and was all but certain that this was a reckless and foolish idea.

"With all due respect, he is not as loyal to you as I." Darkrai protested. Giratina smiled at the irony in Darkrai's warning.

"He is still in my dept, he has no choice but to do as I order." Giratina explained, "Now go, find the Full Court and send him to me."

With his commands given Darkrai flew to the still open portal in the Great Crystal and returned to the Pokémon World. Bent on finding the dweller of Full Court and calling him on his dept to the Renegade Pokémon.

Giratina still remained in the cavern, watching the Great Crystal, from which he watched the world. Now all he had to do was wait and soon the Guardian Priestess would reveal herself again.

"You will never be safe from me, my sister." Giratina said to himself.


	8. Unbeatable

Dawn decided to take their present time to think back on what she and her friends had accomplished. After taking refuge in the Marina Hotel, they were ambushed by Dark Pokémon, during this situation, Red and her united attacks defeated them. At the same time, Cresselia informed her that Ash and Red were the last of the Sacred Knights, destined to protect the Guardian Priestess. After spending the rest of the night travelling the roads, they arrived in Vermillion City. After Red purchased six tickets, they boarded the ferry leaving the Kanto Region the quickest.

Which brought Dawn to where she was at that present moment, standing at the bow of a ferry, watching the waves wash past the boat, and the Wingulls flying overhead, still lost in thought. Her mind was a blur with so many thoughts, she was mainly thinking about her nightmare from the night before.

"What was that? Was it meant to be a message or a threat? And what did the evil me mean when she said sacrificing one of them?" Dawn thought to herself as she looked out over the water.

"Are you alright?" Red asked Dawn as he walked up next to her.

"Yeah I'm fine" Dawn acknowledged Red, before changing the subject, "How's Aero's wing?"

"Healing quickly" Red answered, "I sent him back in exchange for Lapras."

Dawn could easily see that Red was upset that he was limited to healing Aero. Dawn insisted that he should let her heal Aero's wing, but Red protested saying that it was a minor injury and she should focus her powers only on life threatening ones.

"You made the right choice." Dawn complimented as she tenderly put her hand on his shoulder.

Ash and Pikachu were preoccupied with other matters. The two of them were bored, after spending several hours on the boat. They had explored every inch of the ferry, and had spoken with almost everyone on board about their adventure.

"We've been on this boat for hours, when are we going to finally get to Sinnoh." Ash whined.

Misty glared at him before lecturing him, "Just be patient Ash, it won't be much longer."

"Actually, it will be." A young Pokémon Trainer mentioned, approaching Ash, Pikachu and Misty who were sitting on a bench, "Sinnoh is the last stop this ferry is going to make, it's stopping in Unova, Johto and Hoenn first."

"Oh you've got to be kidding, everything's at stake and Sinnoh is the last stop?" Ash asked extremely upset with the present situation, as Red and Dawn joined the others.

"You just need something to take your mind off it." Brock suggested.

"Yeah, like a Pokémon battle." The Red offered. Hearing Red's voice surprised the young Trainer who began staggering in one place.

"Are you Red?" The trainer asked, "The Ultimate Pokémon Master?!"

"Yeah" Red answered.

"Red, I would like to battle with you!" The trainer boldly requested.

The trainer's words echoed around the voice, catching other trainer's ear. Within seconds seven other Trainers ran up to Red asking for a battle. The Pokémon Master soon found himself surrounded by adolescents and even adults who wanted a piece of the King of Trainer's power.

"I accept all your challenges." Red replied with great power in his voice. May walked over to the others in response to the commotion she heard.

"What's happening?" May asked.

"Red is going to have a Pokémon battle with eight different Trainers." Brock answered.

A crowd of people surrounded Red and the first Trainer, at the far side of the makeshift battlefield, Brock served as referee. Each of them called out a Pokémon.

"Go Rhyperior!" The trainer shouted as he opened a Poké Ball to allow a Rhyperior to emerge from it.

"Go Squirtle!" Red exclaimed as he released Poli from his PokéBall.

"Challengers Battle!" Brock shouted, signifying the beginning of the battle.

With one Hydro Pump attack, the Rhyperior was brought down moments after Brock declared the beginning of the battle. The trainer then called out a Graveler which Squirtle defeated easily with a Water Gun attack. With just two moves, Red had won his first battle.

The next battles were the exact same, Red would not even bat an eye while his Pokémon brought down their enemies in one felled move. It was painfully clear that these Pokémon Trainers were pathetically weak in comparison to Red, he was after all the most powerful Pokémon Trainer in the world.

The only challenge he got was when the last Trainer released her Tropius. Red had Pika out in this battle. The opposing Pokémon was swift and able to dodge Pika's attack while striking with its own moves. Being a Grass Type Pokémon, it's moves had more of an effect on Pika, but Pika was a very strong Pokémon and despite the type disadvantage the moves were doing very little damage to the Pokémon.

The match reached its end when Pika faked using an Iron Tail to catch the Tropius' Vine Whip. This move disabled the Tropius and allowed Pika to strike with a devastating electric shock which caused Tropius to collapse to the ground.

"Tropius is unable to battle, the challenger is out of Pokémon, so the opponent wins" Brock declared. Red and the trainer approached each other and shook hands as a show of good sportsmanship, and then parted.

To congratulate Pika, Pikachu ran up to him and touched the tip of his tail to Pika's which gave off an electric charge.

Despite his victory against eight different Trainers with very little damage to his Pokémon, Red did not seem satisfied.

"Red doesn't look very happy" Misty commented to the others.

"How can he not be happy?" Ash asked surprised, "He just defeated eight Trainers and his Pokémon barely took a hit at all!"

"It's because it was boring to him." Dawn explained.

"Boring? What do you mean?" May asked Dawn directly.

"Because Red is the top Trainer of them all, everyone else is below him." Dawn answered, "That means no one challenges him."

"And because there's no one who is as strong as him, he's lost his taste for Pokémon battles, right?" Brock asked.

"Exactly" Dawn concluded before giving a very pitiful look at Red.

Red's greatest victory was far from what he imagined it would be. The thrill of battling was gone because he knew that he would win all of them. Knowing this could come to himself should he meet his destiny, Ash began to doubt whether he truly wanted to become a Pokémon Master.

The moment of doubt was cut short by something colliding with great force against the side of the boat. The passengers on the boat quickly found themselves being thrown aside. The boat began rocking in place violently, throwing the passengers across the boat like rag dolls. There were no clouds in the sky and no waves in the ocean, so it was uncertain so to what was causing the boat to shake. The cries of panicking passengers echoed across the ocean along with the roaring and creaking of a tipping boat. Within a matter of seconds, the boat had shifted ninety degrees in the water.

As Ash slid across the surface of the boat, he stretched out his hand and grabbed Pikachu, just as Pikachu was about to fall over the edge of the boat. Red had secured Pika in his backpack when the rocking began.

"Everyone hang on!" Ash shouted to his friends and the fellow passengers.

"I didn't plan on falling off!" Misty shouted back to him. As the two trainers began shouting at one another, they failed to notice Dawn sliding over the surface of the ferry.

"Red! Ash!" Dawn shouted as she faded out of view and into the ocean. Her scream of terror was heard by the two trainers who saw her fall. Piplup watched in horror as his trainer fell helplessly down further and further until she disappeared beneath the waves.

"Dawn!" Ash shouted. Red did not hesitate, bent on protecting his oldest friend, he let go of the side of the boat and allowed himself to fall into the water.

"Red, are you insane?" May shouted to him as he fell, "He won't last in that water."

"Then I'll go in after him." Ash decided as he put Pikachu on Misty's shoulder and slid down the side of the boat and into the water.

A few seconds past, and there was no sign of the three trainers from the violent waters. Misty's heart was in her mouth. Ash just jumped into those torrential waters, not considering her how she would feel if she lost him. The thought of losing him was something she could not tolerate, but how could he be so selfless. He was always so reckless and headstrong, he drove her crazy.

"I can't take it anymore!" Misty shouted. She grabbed a PokéBall off her belt.

"Gyarados, go find them!" Misty commanded as she opened the PokéBall. Her titanic water serpent Pokémon dove into the water, and then lifted out of the water again. Misty jumped off onto Gyarados' back followed by May and then Brock who was holding onto Piplup. Gyarados took off in search of Ash and the other two Pokémon.

Gyarados searched the water for several minutes, looking above the water and below it. He knew how much it would mean to Misty to see Ash in one piece and making Misty happy was what Gyarados wanted most of all.

"Ash! Red! Dawn! Where are you!" Brock and May shouted across the waves. Misty focused on directing Gyarados through the rampant ocean.

"Hey! Over here!" a voice called to Gyarados. The Pokémon looked to see Red riding on Lapras' back, with Pika on his head and an unconscious Ash in his arms.

Lapras fought against the waves of the storm. Normally he could do this with his eyes closed, but now he had three passengers on his back, so he had to be careful. If he capsized then he would be fine, but it could spell death for Red, Ash and Pika.

"Gyarados! That way!" Misty ordered. Gyarados then turned his course following Misty's directions until it stopped in front of Red and turned its body as to allow Brock to pull him and Ash aboard the Water Type Pokémon's back.

"Ash!" Misty shouted in terror at the sight of her unconscious friend, "Is he.."

"He's still alive." Red answered.

"What about Dawn?" May asked. Red simply shook his head.

"I couldn't save her, but I know she's alive." Red explained.

"How do you know that?" Brock asked.

"I saw someone carry her away on a speed boat, I couldn't see who it was, all I could see was that the person had blood red hair, and the boat had a golden 'G' on the back of it." Red answered.

May remembered a certain person who had blood red hair, and she remembered the golden G and the organization the symbol and the person belonged to. One thing came to her mind.

"Team Galactic."


	9. Stand Alone

Gyarados stopped at the nearest coastline it could, a stretch of beach far from any kind of civilization. The second Gyarados arrived on the shore, Misty called him back and immediately took to caring for Ash. Brock began lending his medical expertise to ensure that the trainer was okay. Ash remained completely still after Brock looked after him, were it not for his pulse, Misty would've been mourning him. Pikachu ran up beside Ash and nuzzled up to him, hoping it would make Ash better.

"How is he?" May asked cradling Manaphy in her arms.

"He's still unconscious, but he's better than before." Brock informed.

"Why does he have to be so stubborn!" Misty shouted while she looked over him. Tears welled up in her eyes as she sat over her silent friend. She put her arms around his shoulders and pulled his still form up to her eye level.

"Ash could've been killed out there!" Misty shouted again.

"Misty, he was only trying to help Red save Dawn." Brock explained, "He was thinking about how important it was that she was safe, it's his job as a Sacred Knight."

Misty looked at Ash's unconscious face and she couldn't help but feel as though it was her fault for what happened. It was of course his fault, but she wanted to blame herself for what happened. Even though she knew it was his fault, her emotions were telling her to blame herself for what happened. She hated how her relationship with Ash made her feel that way. He was stubborn, headstrong and sure of himself, and yet she was compelled to him all the time. He drove her insane. Misty knew that there was one thing to lessen her stress, she began to sing.

_He wanders off, he's just lost without me,  
Doesn't matter what I say.  
I try to give advice,  
I tell him twice,  
He won't listen - gotta do it his own way._

He drives me crazy,  
All of the time.  
He drives me crazy,  
He drives me out of my mind.  
So why do I worry 'bout him? Why do I care?  
I don't know why I let it faze me,  
But he drives me crazy.

He's here and there, everywhere, just looking,  
Always finding something new.  
I know he's kinda strange,  
He'll never change,  
Oh, tell me, what's a girl supposed to do?

He drives me crazy,  
All of the time.  
He drives me crazy,  
He drives me out of my mind.  
So why do I worry 'bout him? Why do I care?  
I don't know why I let it faze me,  
But he drives me crazy.

Just go off in your own direction,  
and see if anybody cares.  
Just don't come running back to me, Ash Ketchum!  
He'll be wishing he had listened then!  
'Cause I told him time and time again...

He drives me crazy,  
All of the time.  
He drives me crazy,  
He drives me out of my mind.  
So why do I worry 'bout him? Why do I care?  
I don't know why I let it faze me...

He drives me crazy  
All of the time  
He drives me crazy  
He drives me out of my mind

Red sat on the edge of the beach looking out across the ocean with Pika sitting on his shoulder, and Piplup right beside him. The Pokémon Master was lost in thought, it was his past back to haunt him. He had lost a friend to Team Galactic once again, because he believed he failed to act. But how could Team Galactic still be in action? he watched Sird die. But he still couldn't shake the notion that it was his fault that they lost Dawn and he was willing to do anything to get her back. But if Misty, May and Brock went with him then he knew that they too would be lost. He knew what had to be done next.

"You're thinking about Dawn aren't you?" May asked as she walked up and sat down next to him.

"I will never escape my past." Red explained.

"What do you mean?" May asked.

"This was almost the exact same was the incident on Cinnabar Island." Red explained, "My failure to act, cost me everything I held precious."

"What happened on the island wasn't your fault Red, it was Sird." May invoked.

"That may be true" Red continued, "But I've seen what I have to become to stop her once and for all."

"My dad once told me that we can either run from our pasts or learn from them." May explained.

"Yes, and I have learned from my pasts." Red responded in a cold tone.

"What do you mean?" May asked him, worried that he would begin his vendetta again if he believed Sird was alive.

"No one else will be sacrificed because of me" Red answered, "I'm going to go save Dawn, alone."

"What?" May asked astonished.

"There's a Team Galactic base along this stretch of coastline, I'll search there." Red finished.

"Red, you can't stand alone against Team Galactic, it's suicide." May protested.

Red stood up, ignoring May's pleads and he began walking down the side of the beach. Her words meant nothing to Red, at that moment all that mattered was his plan. Her words would only get her and her friends killed. This was the only way to ensure that they would survive and that Dawn would be rescued. But even if Dawn is saved, Giratina's power will still be a threat to their mission, and their friends could still be hurt.

"This is my choice." Red responded, "Once I've saved Dawn, she and I will keep going alone."

"That's out of line!" May protested fiercely, "What gives you the right to stand alone!"

Red simply turned to May and began to do something that no one would ever hear him do, sing.

_Like every tree stands on its own  
Reaching for the sky I stand alone.  
I share my world with no one else.  
All by myself I stand alone._

_I know the sound of each rock and stone  
And I embrace what others fear.  
You are not to roam in this forgotten place,  
Just the likes of me are welcome here.  
Everything breathes and I know each breath  
For me it means life for others it's death.  
It's perfectly balanced, perfectly planned,  
More than enough for this man._

_Like every tree stands on its own  
Reaching for the sky I stand alone.  
I share my world with no one else.  
All by myself I stand alone._

_I've seen your world with these very eyes  
Don't come any closer, don't even try  
I've felt all the pain and heard all the lies  
But in my world there's no compromise_

_Like every tree stands on its own  
Reaching for the sky I stand alone.  
I share my world with no one else.  
All by myself I stand alone._

_All by myself I stand alone._

_All by myself I stand alone._

Finished, Red turned and continued walking down the beach, but was quickly stopped when Piplup cut him off. The serious expression on the Pokémon's face told Red that he wanted to come with him.

"This is not your fight." Red told the penguin Pokémon before him. Piplup did not step aside, instead he jumped forward and stood firmly before Red. Dawn was just as important to Piplup as she was to Red, neither was willing to surrender that easily.

"All right let's get moving." Red reasoned. Suddenly brimming with joy, Piplup jumped towards Red expecting the Pokémon Master to grab him and carry him in his arms as Dawn would. Instead Red's arms did not move at all, and Piplup fell straight to the ground.

"You'll walk." Red ordered. Piplup picked himself up and followed behind Red, envious that he would allow Pika to sit on his shoulder.

As the Ultimate Pokémon Master walked across the beach with his two Pokémon partners, May stood on the shore watching in terror. Her only hope was that he really did learn from his past, and he wasn't just looking for a second chance to enact revenge of Team Galactic. As May watched on in horror, she was unaware that eyes in a Meowth shaped hot air balloon were watching them.

"So Team Galactic twerp-napped the magic blue haired twerp." James recollected.

"If those weirdoes have her then they could get Arceus and Giratina before we do." Meowth noted.

"And if they get her to bring them, then they'll steal them first." James inferred.

"How dare those fashion rejects march in on our plan!" Jessie angrily commented.

"I say we bust in there and show those freaks who's boss!" Meowth declared.

"Yes…" Jessie began, "And when we save the blue haired twerp, we trick her into believing we're the good guys and let her lead us to the Palace, so we can take both Pokémon for ourselves."

"Let's do it, for the boss!" James declared.

"For Team Rocket!" Jessie continued.

"For our promotion!" Meowth finished.


	10. Silver

Red was right, there was a Team Galactic base on the edge of the beach. The building was glass and chrome with the symbol of Team Galactic on it, perched on the edge of a cliff face over the edge of the ocean. He had been here once before, several years ago when he was on the hunt for the Megarig. As with all but one Team Galactic base this one was empty. Red remembered the cold feeling of emptiness when he was here several years ago. He didn't have this feeling now, every fiber of his being screamed that Dawn was here, and so would Team Galactic's most elite agents.

Without saying a word, Red walked up to the doors of the building and swung them open, scaring the two Grunts standing guard outside into action.

"I'm here for Dawn Berlitz, stand down, now." Red ordered.

The Grunts grabbed PokéBalls off their belts and activated them releasing two Golbats from them. Before their Pokémon could react, Pika jumped into action. The electric Pokémon used his Thunder attack, striking one Golbat with enough electricity to power three city blocks. As the other one prepared to use Supersonic, Piplup jumped towards it and used Drill Peck ramming his beak right into the Golbat's stomach sending it to the ground.

Red quickly took out the two Grunts using impressive martial arts moves. Swinging his elbow right into one's face while high kicking the other one in the chest sending him flying. As he finished with the two Grunts, Pika and Piplup finished with the two Pokémon.

"Excellent work." Red commended the two Pokémon.

The two Pokémon fell into line behind the Pokémon Master as he walked down the corridors of the building. Red knew exactly where to go, he knew where they kept the prisoners and where the command force would be hiding. Experience told him that if he went straight for the prisoner storage area, then the odds were that he would be ambushed, but if he went for the command area, then he'd be ambushing them. So that's where he needed to go.

Red stormed to the command area and swung the door open with his foot, and stepped into the room on the top floor. It was massive with a huge balcony at the top and a door below it at the far end of the room. On the far left of the room was a large glass window that allowed them to see over the ocean. Standing in front of that door was Team Galactic's sinister elite agent, Saturn.

"Saturn, I should've known you'd reestablish Team Galactic." Red commented.

"That's where you're wrong Red." Saturn began.

"I reestablished Team Galactic." A familiar voice called out to Red from the balcony above. Red looked up to see a face that, although was severely burned, was all too familiar to Red, Sird.

"Impossible" Red commented, "I watched you die."

"Call it fate, call it luck, call it whatever you want, but now Team Galactic has returned." Sird answered. Red stared up at her with fiery rage in his eyes, slowly reaching for a PokéBall on his belt.

"You've come for the Guardian Priestess haven't you?" Sird assumed with pride in her voice.

"Let her go." Red ordered.

"I can't I have plans for her." Sird defied.

"Then it is a battle you'll get." Red addressed as he grabbed a PokéBall and opened it releasing Poli.

"Indeed a battle will come" Sird said, "But not against me, against him."

Cyrus gestured to the door below him as Saturn stepped aside. The door swung open to reveal a trainer who was all too familiar to Red. His hair was blood red as were his eyes, he wore a deep purple jacket and his face showed any lack of compassion or decency. Red knew just who it was, his greatest enemy, the son of Giovanni and heir to Team Rocket.

"Silver." Red said in complete shock.

"It's a miracle that you survived Cinnabar Island, but you're luck ends here." Silver commented.

"I knew you were low, but I didn't know you'd sell your soul to criminal scum." Red spat back.

"This is what you chose when you betrayed me!" Silver spat back, "I would never associate myself with criminal scum like them, but you drove me to this!"

"You put the universe at risk, out of revenge" Red deduced, "You're a fool."

"Don't tell me you believe those fables about The Original One." Silver replied.

"I've seen the horror of Giratina's evil, he's not to be taken lightly." Red warned.

"You're petty lies won't stop me traitor, no one can stop me from enacting vengeance." Silver spat back as he grabbed two PokéBalls from his belt and released his Sneasel and Gengar.

Red did not say a word as he sent out Squirtle to fight beside Pika. Both Trainers glared at one another from across their battlefield. Both were ready to battle intensely, but for different reasons. One for the freedom of his oldest friend, the other for revenge, and neither was willing to lose.

"Let the battle begin." Saturn declared, signifying the start of the Pokémon battle.

"Sneasel use Icy Wind on Squirtle! Gengar use Shadow Ball on Pikachu!" Silver ordered. Sneasel inhaled, charging its internal frost power to release a devastating freezing blast. While Gengar put its hands together creating a ball of shadow energy.

"Pika use Iron Tail, defend Squirtle! Squirtle use Hydro Pump on Gengar!" Red commanded.

Pika charged straight for Sneasel, taking advantage of the pause it was taking to charge its attack, swinging his glowing tail right into Sneasel's stomach, sending it spiraling to the ground. Squirtle leapt into the air and fired a huge volume of water, the Hydro Pump slammed right into Gengar knocking it out in one hit.

"Well played" Silver complimented, "But you and I both know that your Squirtle has to rest after it uses Hydro Pump."

Red had forgotten about that one weakness his young Squirtle had. Squirtle is just a rookie to the move Hydro Pump. Because of this, he would use a lot of his power just to make it work, and so he would need to rest.

"Now Sneasel, use Icy Wind again." Silver ordered, now that Sneasel's ice power was charged, it was ready. Moving quickly, Sneasel breathed a gust of freezing cold wind. The wind engulfed Squirtle. To him it felt like a thousand sharp needles digging through his thick hide. While Squirtle was immobilized by lack of energy and pain, Silver saw a chance to strike again.

"Sneasel, Shadow Claw." Silver commanded his Ice type Pokémon. Sneasel's already clawed hand was glowing purple with energy as it charged forward, it struck Squirtle with its clawed hand, knocking the Water Pokémon out.

"Now I choose you Golbat!" Silver shouted as he activated another PokéBall releasing his large bat like Pokémon.

Calmly Red called Squirtle back to its PokéBall. He knew he fought bravely and he was proud of him for that, but this was a blow for their battle. If he had any hope of winning and rescuing Dawn then he would need to use a Pokémon who focused on brawn as opposed to brain.

"Let's go Snorlax." Red declared as he opened another PokéBall revealing his extremely large Pokémon that did not seem like a fighter at all.

"You're using a bag of pudding to face my agile Sneasel?" Silver asked, astonished. He had hoped that Red would be sending a powerful Pokémon like Vee or Chars, not that obese thing.

"Sneasel, use Quick Attack." Silver commanded. Sneasel charged straight for Snorlax, claws primed and ready for the attack. It leapt for Snorlax, only to slam into his incredibly large belly and was forced back out across the field. While it was in mid air, Red used it to his advantage as well.

"Now Pika, use Thunder." Red commanded. Pika leapt for Sneasel, as he did, he fired a powerful blast of pure electric energy at Sneasel. The attack struck Sneasel and sent it spiraling to the ground unconscious.

"Magneton, attack!" Silver shouted activating another PokéBall. Seeing how Snorlax was capable of taking down Sneasel without even knowing showed Silver that he would have to rely on ranged attacks to defeat Snorlax as opposed to physical attacks.

"Snorlax use Shadow Ball." Red ordered. As quick as the slow Pokémon could, it opened its mouth to generate a ball of shadow energy that it fired straight for the Magneton.

"Dodge and then use Thunder Wave." Silver ordered his Magneton. The three eyed electric Pokémon charged power in its magnet shaped limbs before unleashing a wave of electric power that struck Snorlax in its thick chest. Electrical impulses surged through Snorlax's body, the affect of the attack render the Pokémon limp and incapable of moving.

"Snorlax, shake it off and use Crunch." Red instructed. Luckily, Snorlax's thick layer of fat protected him from being paralyzed. Taking opportunity in Magneton being frozen in shock, Snorlax bounced forward and slammed its mouth up and down around the tri-spherical Pokémon. Silver did not seem to be disheartened by his Pokémon's current condition, instead he seemed to be proud of what was happening to Magneton.

"Use Thunder Wave again." Silver commanded. Once more, the electric Pokémon sent electric power straight at Snorlax. The only difference was that this time, it seemed that Snorlax had been paralyzed.

"Looks as though, Snorlax isn't so thick on the inside." Silver taunted. Red was disheartened as he called Snorlax back to his PokéBall, he allowed himself to be deceived by Silver and lost a very powerful Pokémon.

"Ivysaur, you're up" Red decided as he released his next Pokémon from its PokéBall.

Ivysaur glared at the Magneton and Golbat, trying to decide which Pokémon to fight against. Although he knew that he stood a better chance against Golbat, it was Red's choice who he would combat.

"Now Golbat, Use Air Cutter" Silver commanded of is Pokémon. Golbat opened its mouth and fired several S shaped energy disks at the Grass Pokémon, Ivysaur was prepared for this.

"Ivysaur use Razor Leaf." Red commanded coldly. Ivysaur threw dozens of leaves from the plant on his back like throwing stars, protecting himself and Pika, keeping the Air Cutter attack at bay. With one flick of its head, Ivysaur sent an onslaught of Razor Leaves at Golbat. Unprepared for its own attack to come back at it, Golbat was overwhelmed by the bombardment and lapsed into unconsciousness.

It was clear that using the attack against so many attacks had taken quite a strain on Ivysaur, and the Pokémon began panting from exhaustion. This was what Silver was waiting for.

"Now Magneton, use Discharge" Silver commanded with a cold, confident tone. Magneton fired electricity from its entire body, that danced across the fields. The electricity was nearly blinding, which forced Red and the Team Galactic Grunts to avert their eyes from the field. Once the electricity dissipated, Red looked to see that Ivysaur had lost consciousness and Pika was barely standing.

"You performed well" Red complimented Ivysaur as he called him back. Lapras was too weak to fight, from battling the massive waves during the storm. Which left Red with only one option.

"Chars, it's your turn" Red explained to his most powerful Pokémon as he released him from his PokéBall. Magneton suddenly became petrified with fear, this Pokémon was powerful and extremely fierce in combat, a force to truly be reckoned with.

"Alakazam, prepare for combat" Silver commanded as his Psychic Pokémon emerged from its PokéBall. Alakazam may've been powerful, but anyone who knew it well, would insist it was a coward. There was no way it would fight Chars and Silver knew it.

"Chars, use Air Slash on Magneton!" Red commanded. Chars released a several Shurikens made of air from his wings that flew through the air at breakneck speed and struck Magneton, the force of the impact sent Magneton out of the field and out of the battle.

"Now Pika! use Volt Tackle on Alakazam!" Red commanded. Pika charged at Alakazam, as he moved he generated more and more electrical energy around himself. In just seconds, electricity had completely engulfed Pika, forming a barrier of energy around him as he leapt towards the Alakazam.

"Psychic" Silver commanded. Just as Pika got within inches of Alakazam, the Pokémon used its telekinesis to hold the Pokémon in place before forcing him out of his own electric barrier and thrown out of the field and into the other wall, knocking the already weakened Pokémon out of the match.

"Feraligatr, let's finish this!" Silver shouted as he released his most powerful Pokémon from its PokéBall. It glared at Chars before unleashing a bloodcurdling roar. The two of them had a long lasting history of being fierce rivals, sometimes to the point of not listening to their Trainers and violently fighting one another, Silver did not mind this.

"You've got only one Pokémon left." Silver taunted Red.

"But he's my strongest" Red responded as he pointed to the green stone on his bracelet. Silver suddenly became paralyzed with fear. In the fury of their conflict, Silver had forgotten about Chars' secret weapon.

Red pushed down on the stone on his bracelet and the blue stone on Chars' necklace began to glow. Soon Chars entire body began to glow, the glow turned into a blinding light that illuminated the entire room. The light quickly died down to reveal that Chars had taken on a new form. His entire body was black except for his blue bird like wings, and spikes on his shoulders. The two spikes on Chars' head had grown longer and blue flames came out of his mouth, while the one on his tail was blue and burning brighter than ever before.

"Mega Evolution" Red proudly commented.

"Feraligatr, use Ice Fang!" Silver commanded, Feraligatr charged with its mouth wide open to attack.

"Dragon Claw." Red commanded.

Before Feraligatr could attack, Chars attacked first. A green energy surrounded his arms, taking on the form of claws and made them look twice their original size. Chars lunged forward and began slashing at Feraligatr in furious rage. After a few seconds of blindly attacking his nemesis, Chars jumped back. All that Feraligatr could do was fall forward, unconscious.

Red looked back up at Silver, standing shocked at the sheer power of Mega Chars, while Alakazam stood paralyzed with fear. The Pokémon Master hated to dispatch such a weak opponent, but if it guaranteed Dawn's safety, he would do anything.

"Now Chars, use Blast Burn." Red commanded confidently.

In that instant, Chars became surrounded by blue flames. The mega evolved Pokémon slammed its fist into the ground, sending a wave of energy through the ground towards Alakazam. Once the energy was below the Psychic Pokémon, it erupted out in a fiery explosion of red flames.

The impact forced Alakazam flying out of the arena and almost onto Silver. Giovanni's son barely avoided getting flattened by Alakazam's body. But the shock wave from the Psychic Pokémon hitting the ground knocked Silver off his feet and launched him several feet into the air, before crashing to the ground. Silver seemed to begin getting up, but not Alakazam, it couldn't fight anymore. In that moment the battle was over, Red had won.


	11. Game Over

The Pokémon match may've been won, but Red was not out of the woods yet. He still had to rescue Dawn from Team Galactic's clutches. It was the reason he had come here for, even during the fury of the battle, he did not forget his mission. With Piplup and Pika close behind him, Red called Chars back to his PokéBall and stormed towards Silver, who was just recovering from the aftershock of the blast.

"All right, I won, now let Dawn go." Red demanded of his weakened rival.

"Did we say that would happen?" Sird asked mockingly as she stepped behind Red. Instinctively, the Pokémon Master turned to face his opponent. It was here that he finally got a good glimpse of her face. The burns she suffered had greatly disfigured Team Galactic's leader, as well as leaving a massive bald spot on the left side of her head and a scar through her right eye.

"The Guardian Priestess and her gifts belong to Team Galactic now." Saturn declared from behind Sird.

"Exactly" Sird commented, "Why rule Dialga and Palkia, when I can rule the Pokémon who rules them."

"Release her now!" Red demanded as he grabbed Sird's collar, "Or I'll make you wish you weren't so lucky at Mt. Coronet."

"I was not lucky Red" Sird corrected, "I was saved."

"What?" Red was curious, curious enough to release the Team Galactic leader from his hands. She was right at the centre of the explosion and was alone in the Megarig. No one could've rescued her from the craft in time before it detonated. Unless she was teleported, by something that could walk between dimensions, or in the shadows.

As Red and Sird glared at one another, Red failed to notice that Silver had recovered and released Magneton from its PokéBall.

"That's right Pokémon Master" Sird stated, "For the sake of the new world, a deal had to be made, with Giratina."

As soon as Sird finished speaking, Magneton used its Thunder Wave attack. Charging its magnet shaped limbs with electric power before releasing it. The electric energy struck Red right in the back, causing him to collapse to the ground. The Pokémon Master was in great pain, so much agony that he could not even move.

"Pika, Piplup, run." Red croaked to the two smaller Pokémon watching him in horror. With no other options the two Pokémon turned and ran. Unfortunately, Jupiter and three Grunts were waiting for them with a steel cage as the two Pokémon unintentionally ran right into it.

"You have lost Red." Jupiter taunted, "No teammates, your Pokémon are too weak to fight."

"You are by yourself in this fight" Sird further taunted, "All alone."

"Who says he's alone." A familiar voice called to Sird. The Team Galactic leader, her two subordinates and the son of Giovanni looked down the far side of the room and saw the Team Rocket trio standing in the doorway.

"Prepare for trouble! We're back in the game!" Jessie began.

"Make it double! We're definitely not tame!" James continued.

"To protect the world from devastation!" Jessie said.

"To unite all people within our nation!" James added.

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!" Jessie boasted.

"To extend our reach to the stars above!" James continued.

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth that's right!" Meowth concluded.

"You three fools again?" Jupiter asked with great annoyance. These three got in their way four years ago, when Team Galactic tried to call upon Dialga and Palkia from Spear Pillar. They proved to be an annoyance to Team Galactic on several occasions, one that they could never be rid of.

"My father's most imbecilic agents." Silver confessed. Although he wanted nothing to do with Team Rocket, he was still ashamed of the trio for their constant failures.

"That's right, it's us and we're here to save the blue haired twerp." Meowth explained their plan.

"Let her go and this won't get ugly." Jessie threatened as she and James grabbed a PokéBall from off their belts.

"Why are you three trying to help?" Red asked all the Rocket agents. They were stumped with an answer, if they told Red the true reason, he would no doubt attack them. Eventually, Meowth came up with an alibi.

"It's quite simple," The feline Pokémon explained, "If they get her then this fan fiction ends before we get a significant part in the story."

"Now then, let the two twerps go or else." James threatened. Without a second's thought, Saturn grabbed a PokéBall off his belt and activated it, releasing his Bronzor. the teal blue disc shaped Pokémon levitated towards the Team Rocket trio, hovering I one place.

"Bronzor, use Hypnosis." Saturn calmly ordered. Bronzor's body began to change at a rapid rate of tantalizing colors. in just second's the Rocket trio found themselves enticed by the sudden change of colors. the more enticed they were, the tired they become before they finally collapsed to the ground and fell asleep.

Silver walked over to Red, who was still lying on the ground in pain, content at the sight of what was around him. The three greatest disappointments to Team Rocket had been subdued by Team Galactic, meaning that they would be fired once word got to his father. More importantly, Team Rocket's greatest enemy, Red, had just been defeated, now not a threat to his family ever again.

Knowing all that he had accomplished, he was sure that he would finally earn his father's favour. After today, he knew Giovanni would finally be proud of him. Before he departed the Team Galactic base, he turned to his nemesis to speak to him, one last time.

"The game's over Red, you lose."


	12. Rescue

Red finally stirred back into consciousness in an environment different than the one he lost consciousness in. He blacked out in a massive room surrounded by Team Galactic's most elite agents and Sird. Now he was in a grotesque prison cell, his leg chained to the wall. From the cell across from his he could see his Pokémon and Dawn's Pokémon all there, like him they were helpless. Seeing Dawn's Pokémon right there, he hoped that Dawn herself was close by.

His answer came to him in the sound of muffled screams coming to him from inside his cell. Red looked up to see Dawn. She was alive, although her limbs were bound by rope and she was gagged. Despite their current condition, Red was overwhelmed with joy to see Dawn still alive.

"You're okay." Red said to Dawn in a weak voice.

The Pokémon Master tried getting on his feet to make sure that the young priestess was in fact well, but he found it impossible to lift himself up. This signified that he was still too weak to get up.

Dawn began wiggling her body in the direction of Red to get closer to him. Her plan was that if Red could untie her, then she could free him and they could escape after getting their Pokémon. Slowly she made her way to her old friend. Dawn's plan was cut short by the sound of footsteps coming down the hall, getting closer. Red rapidly began to move his head in the direction that Dawn came from, signalling for her to go back to her original place.

Both Pokémon trainers looked to see Mars standing behind the door their prison cell, grinning with the thought of how excellently their plan went and how low the Pokémon Master had fallen. The Team Galactic commander grabbed a key off her belt, unlocked the cell and opened it. Dawn saw that she seemed to be holding some kind of electric prod in her hand.

"I have excellent news for you priestess." Mars said as she walked up to Dawn. Dawn was expecting the worst to happen, and so was Red

"Get back Mars!" Red shouted. Mars did not listen to Red as she knelt down behind Dawn. Now both trainers were prepared to be stricken by pain. Instead, Mars undid the ropes that bound Dawn's arms and legs and removed the gag from her mouth.

"We're giving you a choice." Mars explained to Dawn.

"What do you mean a choice?" Dawn asked nervously. When it came to Team Galactic, a choice was normally a fate worse than death.

"We've thought about several ways to get you to awaken the 'Original One' for us, the problem is that you have to do it while you are in control of you." Mars explained, "So now we're giving you we're giving you a choice, you can either willingly lead us to the Palace of Light or else."

"Or else what?" Dawn asked fearfully.

"This." Mars answered as she thrust the prod right into Red's chest, electrifying him. The Pokémon Master couldn't hold back shouting in pain as volts of energy surged through his body.

"If you say no, then you are free to leave, but Red dies." Mars explained.

"Don't worry about me Dawn, just run." Red told Dawn. Just as he was finished speaking, Mars struck him with the electric prod once more. This time even more electric power coursed through him. this caused him to yell louder in pain.

"It's your choice Priestess, but choose wisely." Mars warned Dawn as she pressed the prod down harder onto Red's skin.

"Dawn, get out of here now!" Red shouted in a combination of anger and pain. Dawn had an opportunity to escape the clutches of Team Galactic, but she didn't want to have to do it if it meant she'd have to sacrifice one of her friends.

"What're you waiting for? Just run!" Red shouted as Mars continued to electrocute him. Red's screams of unbearable agony echoed across the prison chamber. Mars glared at Dawn with a look of sinister pleasure as she pressed the prod harder and harder onto Red's chest.

Dawn was overwhelmed by sorrow and stress. She had never been forced to make a more difficult decision in her life, but she had finally reached a verdict.

"Dawn! run!" Red shouted at her one final time.

"Just shut up Red! I'm not leaving you!" Dawn yelled at her friend with great anger and sorrow in her voice.

"No" Red said weakly. A combination of shock and pain caused the Pokémon Master to lose consciousness once again.

"Excellent choice Dawn." Mars commented cruelly.

Her mood changed from proud to confused and fearful at the sound of explosions coming from the far side of the chamber. Mars looked out to see a Blaziken racing down the hallway with May running behind it.

"Now Blaziken, use Flamethrower on the locks!" May commanded.

Blaziken sent a blast of fire from its mouth that melted the locks on all the cells freeing the prisoners. May and Blaziken were quick to run to the cell containing Dawn and Red. Once they got there, May finally saw the condition that Red was in, and was stricken by terror from it.

"He's still alive May." Dawn reassured, "But I can't heal him here, we've got to get out of here, where's everyone else?"

"They're battling Team Galactic in the main battle room." May answered as Blaziken picked up Red and placed him gently on Chars' back.

"They'll need our help, Chars take Red to the nearest Pokémon Center and wait for us." Dawn instructed the large Charizard.

"The rest of you return." Dawn finished as she called all of Red's Pokémon back to their PokéBalls and placed them on his belt. Pika simply ignored being called back and jumped onto Red's shoulder.

Hearing her commands, Chars took flight with the Pokémon Master on his back. Flying over a disorientated Mars and out the doors that lead to the command room, continuing far out of the building on his way to the nearest Center to be treated. As for Dawn, May and the other Pokémon they made a mad dash for the same door, only to be stopped by Mars.

"You'll have to go through me." She warned. May and Blaziken stepped in front of Dawn, showing her intentions.

"Keep going, I'll keep her busy." May instructed Dawn. The young Priestess merely nodded as she and Piplup ran around the two and up the stairs.

"Purugly, I choose you!" Mars declared as she released her repulsive feline from its PokéBall.

"Blaziken use Flame Kick." May instructed.

"Dodge and then use Body Slam!" Mars commanded. As Blaziken swung its flaming leg out to strike Purugly, the obese Pokémon dodged the attack and rammed its body into Blaziken. However the fiery bird Pokémon was quick to recover.

"Blaziken use Flamethrower." May instructed. Keeping its distance, Blaziken shot another stream of fire from its mouth that struck Purugly dead centre it is chest.

"Not bad" Mars complimented, "For a Coordinator."

Dawn and Piplup had just arrived in the main room to see that everyone was locked in a furious Pokémon Battle. It seemed as though the battle was intense as there were pieces of debris and rubble ranging in size from small to the size of cars all around them.

Brock and Croagunk were in a heated struggle against Saturn's Toxicroak and it seemed as though Croagunk was doing poorly.

"Croagunk, use Brick Break!" Brock called out.

"Dodge and then use Poison Jab." Saturn calmly instructed Toxicroak. The large frog like Pokémon leapt out of the way of Croagunk's fist and then struck the Pokémon in the back with its glowing fist, forcing it to the ground.

"Croagunk, get up!" Brock shouted in desperation.

"Now, while your foe is weak, use X-Scissor." Saturn commanded. Toxicroak leapt into the air and charged at Croagunk. The larger frog Pokémon swung its fists down in an x shaped formation. both fists struck Croagunk and forced him back to the ground.

"Croagunk No!" Brock yelled in terror.

"Any last words before Toxicroak deals with your Croagunk?" Saturn taunted. Brock's expression changed to one of great confidence, he had one last trick he was prepared to use.

"Now Onix use Iron Tail!" Brock commanded his concealed Pokémon. A sound of rumbling came from behind Saturn and Toxicroak as they both looked to see that the giant pile of rubble behind them was actually Brock's Iron Snake Pokémon. Onix did as he was told and swung his glowing tail at Toxicroak, sending the frog like Pokémon flying across the room.

Misty and Jupiter were locked in their own double battle.

"Skuntank use Slash, Sableye use Faint Attack!" Jupiter ordered.

"Staryu, Starmie! both of you use Rapid Spin!" Misty commanded. As both Skuntank and Sableye charged at the two water Pokémon, Staryu and Starmie quickly leapt into the air dodging their attacks. Like giant shurikens the two star shaped Pokémon began to spin in mid air before flying straight at the two opponent Pokémon. Staryu struck Sableye and sent it spiralling to the ground. While Starmie hit Skuntank and knocked it out in one hit.

"Sableye, use Punishment!" Jupiter commanded her last Pokémon, angry at the sight of her losing. As Sableye's claws began to glow purple, Misty was ready with her attack.

"Staryu use Rapid Spin again." Misty instructed. Taking advantage of the fact that Sableye was already weakened by Staryu's last Rapid Spin, the Water Pokémon leapt into the air, spinning at an alarming rate as it slammed into Sableye knocking it out.

"Don't mess with a retired Gym Leader." Misty taunted.

Dawn was prepared to combat several Grunts when Blaziken went flying through the door behind her and landed right in front of her. Purugly leapt through the door to pounce at Blaziken. But the flaming bird was too quick as it easily avoided the attack and got back to its feet. Not that far behind, May and Mars both raced through the door to join the battle.

"Purugly use Body Slam!" Mars commanded.

"No holding back! Blaziken use Overheat!" May instructed. Blaziken charged fires in its mouth keeping them there until they reached their limit. As Purugly got closer, Blaziken finally released the fire in one destructive blast that even hurt itself. The blast of fire struck Purugly and sent it flying back, into Mars who became pinned underneath it.

"Remind me not go get on your bad side." Dawn commented to May.

As the battles continued the Team Rocket trio had escaped their cell and stepped out into the main room to get a glimpse of the battle.

"This looks intense." James commented.

"Do you think we'd stand a chance in this fight?" Jessie asked both her partners.

"Probably not, if we help the twerps, Team Galactic will feed us to the Sharpeedos" Meowth theorized, "If we help Team Galactic, the twerps will give us a nasty blast off."

"So we can't win either way." Jessie concluded.

"I guess not." James confirmed. There was a long pause as they each were deciding what needed to be done next.

"You want to get something to eat?" Meowth asked both his partners. Jessie and James looked t one another before coming to a decision.

"Sure." Jessie answered.

"I guess so." James finished. With a plan in mind, all three Team Rocket agents calmly walked past the vicious conflict happening around them and then out the door.

Ash was in a Pokémon battle like no other. Pikachu, Infernape and Oshawott were up against Sird's Banette, Starmie and Persian. Sird's Pokémon proved to be vicious in combat, the three Pokémon Ash had with him were the only ones left, all his other Pokémon were knocked out in the fight.

"Infernape use Flame Wheel on Banette!" Ash commanded.

"Banette use Double Edge, Starmie Hyper Beam, both on Infernape." Sird commanded.

Moving too quick for Infernape to match, Banette rushed up to the primate Pokémon and struck it in the chest with its fist. While it was in a daze, Starmie unleashed a devastating beam of power on Infernape. The fiery primate Pokémon spiraled to the ground and fell unconscious. This was another blow to Ash, Sird had not lost a single Pokémon in their entire battle. With only two Pokémon left, the odds were not in Ash's favor.

"Oshawott, use Aqua Jet on Banette, Pikachu use Thunderbolt on Starmie!" Ash instructed. Once again, Sird moved quicker.

"Persian use Power Gem on Oshawott, Banette use Shadow Claw on Pikachu."

Persian charged at Oshawott. The small otter Pokémon had surrounded his body in water and was in mid air, on a b-line straight for Banette. He was, however, intercepted by Persian who fired a red beam from the gem on its forehead at Oshawott and sending him tumbling to the ground, unconscious.

Pikachu was in the air as well, as he avoided Banette's razor sharp claws and send a blast of electrical energy straight at it. Despite the sheer power of the attack, it didn't seem to do anything to affect the Banette.

"With only one Pokémon, you do not stand a chance." Sird taunted. Ash's only Pokémon left was Pikachu, the one he started his Pokémon journey with and even though Pikachu had spirit, this wouldn't be enough to win.

"Yeah well he's not alone." Dawn called out to Sird as she and Piplup ran to stand beside Ash, "You threatened to kill Red, now I'm going to make you pay."

"You don't get it do you!" Sird shouted at Dawn, "You have failed, you cannot escape your destiny, even if you defeat me in this battle I still have won!"

Sird called back her three Pokémon and stormed over to Ash and Dawn, Pikachu and Piplup jumped in front of her, but the Leader of Team Galactic paid no mind to the two Pokémon. Sird towered over them. With pure insanity in her eyes, she continued to speak.

"And once you have awakened Arceus, I will make him mine. With his powers I will be able to control Dialga and Palkia!' Sird triumphantly said before she said something very, very, stupid, "And if I can control Dialga and Palkia, who's to say I can't do the impossible and take control of the black renegade, Giratina!"

"DECEIVER!" A thundering voice shouted from everywhere, "You have betrayed me, treacherous serpent!"

Dawn grabbed her ears and fell to her knees screaming in pain. She felt as though thousands of razor sharp knives were driving into her ears. The pain was unbearable, even after the voice had faded she still continued screaming. Ash bent down towards her and instinctively put his hands on her shoulders as a show of security.

"Dawn what's wrong?" Ash asked worriedly. The other three Trainers saw Dawn in distress and ran to her aide.

"What is it?" May asked worriedly.

"It's him! He's here!" Dawn exclaimed as she turned and grabbed Ash's shirt in terror.

"Who?" Brock asked, "Who's here?"

Brock automatically knew what the answer was, but he hoped, with every last bit of faith he had left, that it would not be who he thought it was.

"Giratina" Dawn whispered terrified. The eyes of all the Trainers and Team Galactic commanders turned to Sird who looked the most frightened of them all.

"You made a deal with Giratina and then double crossed him?" Jupiter asked her leader, half horrified and half enraged.

"Even Team Rocket wouldn't do something that moronic." Misty said to Sird.

A swirling sphere of purple and black energy appeared on the side of the large window on the far side of the room. Everyone was stricken by fear, they had no idea what Giratina was planning and what this anomaly in front of them meant. Everyone, even the Team Galactic grunts shared one common thought, Sird was to blame for this.

"You will never again see the light of day!" Giratina's voice shouted to everyone in the room.


	13. Punishment

The sphere took on the form of a portal, more specifically a gateway to the Distortion world with Giratina watching them from the other side of it. A vortex began to develop around the portal that grew larger and larger, sucking everything around the portal through it. Dust, rubble, even Grunts were being pulled through the portal as their screams of terror echoed through the entire building.

"He's going to suck us into the Distortion World!" Dawn yelled to the others past the sound of rushing wind.

"We need to find cover!" Ash warned the others as he grabbed Pikachu and began his search for somewhere to hide. Frantically he looked around until he saw the door leading down to the prisoner storage area, "Guys! Down there!"

Ash grabbed onto the rim of the doorway and held out his hand for everyone to grab, so he could successfully pull them down into the storage room, and be safe from Giratina. Dawn and Piplup were the first that Ash had successfully sent into the room.

The trainers and the Galactic soldiers began to move towards the area Ash was directing them to. For once, these two most bitter rivals had joined forces to escape a common foe, Giratina. Despite their trying, some Grunts were not successful as they were pulled into the Distortion World. Saturn was among the closest to Ash. He would've escaped were it not for his Toxicroak being caught in the vortex.

"Toxicroak! NO!" Saturn shouted as he grabbed onto his Pokémon's arm. His hope was that his weight would be enough to ensure that neither he nor his Pokémon would be caught and dragged to a horrible fait. He was wrong, his weight did nothing to stop Toxicroak from being dragged away, both of them were then caught in the vortex.

"Don't be a fool Saturn!" Jupiter called to her companion as Ash was pulling her into the safe room, "Let go of Toxicroak before it's too late!"

"Never!" Saturn shouted back to Jupiter. That was the last thing anyone heard him say before he and Toxicroak passed through the portal and into the lair of Giratina. Jupiter did not bear to watch, instead she ran into the safe room with tears in her eyes, running past Dawn, May, Brock and only a few Grunts.

"Ash you shouldn't be doing this, you're still recovering from almost drowning!" Brock shouted to him from inside the room, "I should do it!"

"Don't worry Brock!" Ash shouted over the rushing wind, "There's only a few people left, I'll be fine!"

Ash was right, only three people were left to be pulled to safety. In order from closest to him to furthest they were Sird, Mars and Misty. Sird was close to being pulled to safety by Ash, as the Team Galactic leader held out her hand for the young trainer to grab. Mars was very displeased with his leader; Sird made a deal with an ancient force of evil, she betrayed that same evil being responsible for the fate of several Team Galactic agents including Saturn. Now she was expecting to get off scot free, this Mars would not tolerate.

"No you don't!" Mars shouted as she grabbed Sird by the back of her shirt, "You did this to Saturn, now pay for what you did!"

Mars threw Sird behind her, but the Team Galactic Leader had Mars' her arm as she did and pulled her back as well. The two former allies began wrestling on the ground, throwing punches at one another to the face and ribs. As they fought they were oblivious to the danger around them as the Giratina watched them with hungry eyes from across the portal.

"Guys stop!" Misty shouted, "You'll both get killed or worse!"

"If I my time is here, at least hers will be too!" Mars shouted to Misty as she spat blood and once more punched Sird in her burned face.

Their wrestling came to an abrupt stop when Mars found herself being lifted into the air and pulled closer and closer to the portal. Within just seconds, she disappeared on the other side of it, the only thing Mars left behind was an echo of her bloodcurdling scream of terror.

Sird looked on, proud to see the traitor get what she deserved. However her moment of victory was short lived when she saw that she was being pulled towards the portal herself. Desperately, the Galactic leader began reaching for something to grab onto. Frantically, she grabbed Misty's leg as she was just grabbing Ash's hand, causing the latter to trip and be lifted into the air by the vortex while Sird still held onto Misty's leg. With a sudden and violent pull from the vortex Sird's hand jerked off Misty's leg and the Team Galactic leader found herself flying towards the portal.

As Sird got closer to the portal she could see a look of cruel joy in Giratina's cold red eyes as she got closer and closer to the portal. Sird couldn't help but scream in terror as she flew through the portal straight towards Giratina's wide open mouth. Team Galactic would never be heard from again.

Back at the door to the safe room, Ash was struggling to hold onto Misty, even when Brock, May and Dawn were all holding onto Ash they couldn't fight the power of the vortex. Even Pikachu and Piplup were helping as they grabbed onto Ash's ankles and began to pull themselves.

"Ash, you have to let go." Misty said with great displeasure.

"No, I won't do that." Ash said defiantly.

"If you don't we'll all be sucked in, and Giratina will win." Misty reasoned.

"We won't let you go Misty!" Dawn shouted from the back of the line.

"She's right, we're a team we have to stick together." May added.

"But Red was right about one thing, sometimes one must make a sacrifice for the good of the many." Misty further explained trying to hold back crying. Misty used her free hand to grab her bag off her back and throw it to Dawn.

"Take care of my Pokémon." Misty explained.

"No, no it's not going to end like this." Ash protested with tears in his eyes, "I said that I would protect you and I will!"

"And I told you Ash, I don't need protection." Misty responded. Using her free hand she grabbed onto Ash's shirt and pulled herself closer to friend and she kissed him on the mouth, much to the Pokémon trainer's shock.

"I just needed you." Misty finished as she clenched her silver necklace with a blue jewel.

Using Ash's current state, Misty let go of his hand and his shirt and found herself being pulled into the Distortion World. She refused to look into the portal as she found herself getting closer and closer to it, instead she decided to look at her friends, this would be the last time she would see them and she wanted to make the most of it. Misty waved farewell to her friends before she disappeared behind it.

"NO!" Ash shouted into the air. That was the girl he loved, and because of Giratina he would never see her again.

Having a portal to the Distortion World open for this long had taken its toll on Giratina. The Renegade Pokémon did not have the strength to keep it open any longer and so closed it shortly after Misty went through it.

Ash had never felt so defeated in all his life. He couldn't save Misty and now she was lost forever. The Pokémon trainer fell to his knees, holding his head low as he slightly began crying. Pikachu ran up to Ash and began rubbing his head on his trainer's leg for comfort. As Ash sat on the ground, there was only one thing that he could say.

"I need you to Misty."


End file.
